Welcome to Women's Microfinance Initiative

WMI's mission is to establish village-level loan hubs, administered by local women, to provide capital, training and support services to rural women in the lowest income brackets in East Africa so that they can engage in income producing activities.

How It Works! - The WMI Loan Program Overview

Goal:
WMI's goal is to help women build assets so that they can stabilize their income, raise their standard of living and reorient themselves and their families. WMI's small loans bring big changes to impoverished women, who use the money to build small businesses. With pro bono legal assistance from the law firm of Baker & McKenzie in New York, WMI issued its first microloans in January 2008. By mid-2014, WMI had issued 15,000 loans totaling $2 million to women in more than 1,000 villages. WMI has developed a unique economic model to transition women to bank loans and the formal economy in 24-months. Loan funds are recycled so that the program becomes self-sustaining.

Your donation will give an impoverished woman in Uganda the opportunity to start her own business. With the revenues generated from her micro-enterprise, she will be able to raise the standard of living for her entire family and help make their future more secure. LEARN MORE »

2014 Dining for Women grant recipient

WMI has been named a 2014 Dining for Women grant recipient! Dining for Women is a non-profit giving circle dedicated to empowering women and girls living in extreme poverty. To learn more about this exciting opportunity:

Let Olive, Robinah, Margaret and Alice tell you about their businesses...

MEET MORE WMI BORROWERS

Kamida's story starts eight years ago when she ran a café in the border town of Busia, Uganda , where her husband is from. However, business in Busia was a failure. Being a foreigner to the town, she was alienated by the community...click to read more »

Meet Nemburis. Born in the neighboring Maasai village of Alchenemelock, Nemburis moved to Alailelai, Tanzania when she married her husband Empapa at the age of 18. She is one of Empapa's five wives. As one of eight siblings, she walked two-hours each way to the primary school in Alailelai in order to obtain an education...click to read more »